Title:SAR based Review on Diverse Heterocyclic Compounds with Various
Potential Molecular Targets in the Fight against COVID-19: A Medicinal
Chemist Perspective
Volume: 23
Issue: 14
Author(s): Anish Madan, Mansi Garg, Garvit Satija, Barkha Sharma, Mohammad Shaquiquzzaman*, Mymoona Akhter, Ashif Iqubal, Mohammad Ahmed Khan, Suhel Parvez, Anwesha Das, Khursheed Ahmad Sheikh and Mohammad Mumtaz Alam*
Affiliation:
- Drug Design and Medicinal Chemistry Lab, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Education
& Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, India
- Drug Design and Medicinal Chemistry Lab, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Education
& Research, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, 110062, India
Keywords:
Heterocyclic, COVID-19, Cytokine storm, Acute respiratory distress syndrome, Inflammation, Oxidative stress, Molecular targets.
Abstract: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was reported to be transmitted from bats to humans
and, became a pandemic in 2020. COVID-19 is responsible for millions of deaths worldwide and
still, the numbers are increasing. Further, despite the availability of vaccines, mutation in the virus
continuously poses a threat of re-emergence of the more lethal form of the virus. So far, the repurposing
of drugs has been exercised heavily for the identification of therapeutic agents against
COVID-19, which led FDA to approve many drugs for the same e.g., remdesivir, favipiravir, ribavirin,
etc. The anti-COVID drugs explored via other approaches include nirmatrelvir (used in combination
with ritonavir as Paxlovid), tixagevimab and cilgavimab (both used in combination with each
other) and others. However, these approved drugs failed to achieve a significant clinical outcome.
Globally, natural bioactive have also been explored for anti-COVID-19 effects, based on their traditional
medicinal values. Although the clinical findings suggest that FDA-approved drugs and natural
bioactives can help reducing the overall mortality rate but the significant clinical outcome was
not achieved. Therefore, the focus has been shifted towards new drug development. In line with
that, a lot of work has been done and still going on to explore heterocyclic compounds as potent anti-
COVID-19 drugs. Several heterocyclic scaffolds have been previously reported with potent antiinflammatory,
anticancer, anti-viral, antimicrobial and anti-tubercular effects. Few of them are under
consideration for clinical trials whereas others are under preclinical investigation. Hence, this
review discusses the evidence of rationally designed and tested heterocyclic compounds acting on
different targets against COVID-19. The present article will help the researches and will serve as a
pivotal resource in the design and development of novel anti-COVID-19 drugs.
